My Kenmore Elite Ultrawash Control Panel is possessed!?

I have a QuietGuard Elite Plus Ultrawash model:665.15989990 which has been getting worse and worse over the past 3 or 4 months. It's been working fine for nearly 7 years and only recently has it been giving me fits. It started out by just having the control panel "lock" itself without being asked to. Holding down the "No Heat Dry" button for 5 seconds would unlock it and it worked with that little work-around for at least a couple of months. Now it doesn't behave that way anymore. I can get a cycle started if I mess around with the buttons and power long enough, but the cycle will stop before it is finished and the "No Heat Dry" and "Lock On" lights flash. I keep trying holding the unlock button but it no longer responds. I used to be able to get it to continue by pressing the "Favorite Cycle" button, but that trick no longer works either. Does any one have the keypad sequence to get to the diagnostics on this machine? I tried the alternating "No Heat Dry" and "Lock On" button sequence, but I never got that to work on this dishwasher. Am I just out of luck? They want nearly $400 for a new Console Assembly and I cannot find just a replacement touchpad. I can buy a whole new dishwasher for a couple hundred bucks, so I'd like to find a reasonably priced touchpad or I might as well replace the machine, but I think everyone knows what brand I won't be buying as a replacement (or is 7 years the most I can expect from this kind of appliance?)...

T. Rasmussen
November 2006